Friday, June 30, 2006

This morning I added a new link, “Interesting Site - GB” to my blog. As I come across other interesting web sites I will put them under this link. How long a site will remain will depend on when I come across another interesting site, or who knows, even an interesting blog.

As you know from Evie’s blog, later today we are off for the weekend in our RV. Thinking of this year’s travels and the price of gas reminded me of the Gas Buddy site. People from various areas post gas prices in their area. The prices are current within a day or two. As price posting is dependant upon how often people in that area post, stations appear and fall off the list.

As you will see from the map, prices are posted from across the US and Canada by state/provenance and regions within the same. I have used the site when I travel. It has helped me to plan where it is best to stop for gas. In these days of high prices, filling the tank 50 miles further down the road can bring significant savings (or stopping 50 miles earlier than normal). For us, filling up the RV’s 55 gallon tank the savings really add up.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Yesterday I received a red card that reads “Thank u For Lode Yo Kooh Fro Jonathan” Jonathan insisted that his mother deliver his expression of thankfulness and kept hounding his mother until she delivered it to me at the office.

For those readers who cannot read youthful Kiddees I let me translate, “Thank you for letting us look at the camper.” (Thanks Erika for your translation assistance).

Jonathan, your note of thankfulness is received and is warmly cherished.

For other readers, Jonathan along with his brother Joshua, mother and father will be using our RV this August to travel to Disney. Jonathan and his brother have asked their parents if they could go camping in a vehicle like ours. Now they are not only excited about visiting Disney but they are also excited about traveling down the highway and camping in our toy.

Evie and I pleased to allow these officer friends of ours borrow our vehicle to create a lasting and memorable vacation for their sons. As the years pass we look back with fondness upon those special vacation trips that departed from the ordinary. I remember three such family trips from my youth, the trip to Expo 67 and Ottawa, the vacation spent at Bon Echo, and the trip when we circled Lake Superior.

I also remember as young married couple the week Evie and I spent camping at Arrowhead with my parents and siblings. Day after day it rained, sometimes heavy and other times not much more than a mist. We found ways to entertain ourselves between the pop-up and the tents. When we could we fought to various degrees of success to light a campfire. One of my more cherished pictures is from that week, it is a picture of myself and a youthful Jenn doing our rendition of Fred Aster and Ginger Rogers by dancing in the rain around an black umbrella.

As a parent three vacations Evie and I took with our boys continue to warm my heart. There is the vacation we took to Disney in 1997, the trip to Wyoming and Colorado, and the vacation trip the saw us camping near Washington DC before we meet up with their uncles and aunts at a campground on the shores of Lake Erie. Each is cherished for different reasons. One journey for the excitement and joy of fulfilling the youthful dreams of our sons. One for the grand scenery of the mountains, and for the 3 hour trail ride through box canyons and up and down grand hills with a wrangler (and eating at the modern chuck wagon, the Ford F150). One for the opportunity for our boys to bond with their cousins in the Sears tradition of camping as well as the opportunity to again enjoy canvas and a campfire with my siblings.

Rob and Carolynn are in the process of giving a precious gift to their sons that we are confident that Jonathan along with his elder brothers Joseph and Joshua in their adult years will look upon the trip with warm fondness. Evie and I are honored to be just a small part of helping further that memory along. Thank you Jonathan for the card, it has been received and it beautifully expresses your thankfulness.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Since she started blogging I have been visiting Evie’s blog two or three times a week. Following the conversations has been informative as it has helped to keep me abreast of family news and even provided insights into the hearts of my sisters.

An observation I made has caused me to do my own blog, albeit less frequent and not at the same quality as Evie and the others. So what is the observation that compelled me to enter into this world? It was the list of the participants on the Sears branch of the family…Barb, Evie, Joanne, Cathy, Mel, James and now Jen.

I am sure Evie has noticed the tread, six female voices and only one male voice. Several male voices need to be added to the conversation. This is not a male superiority issue (a concept which us guys need to hold as a passé concept) or gender race of some order. While the dialogue and sharing family news is via blogging is not a competition, such conversations are best when there is a balance. Hence, I am challenging Stephen and my sons to consider blogging…and possibly Dad. Kudos to James for being the first from the Sears branch to enter into this space and dialogue.

Kudos also to Christian for being in there long before many of us….and thank you for your postings. It would be even better if we could only get one or two others from the Camuti branch blogging once every week or so.

So now you know why I have started my own blog. And I have chosen a background that makes it easier for Dad to read. I may not post as often as my life’s partner or my sisters, but I have started. One cannot be engaged until one enters the conversation. I hope other Sears men venture forth as well.